


A Graceful Annoyance

by MysticDeadman



Series: Learning to Fight [8]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Fighting, Gen, Martial Arts, Mixed Martial Arts, Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, Robbery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-16 13:34:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29825730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MysticDeadman/pseuds/MysticDeadman
Summary: An American fighter visits China in an attempt to take a vacation. Things go awry, however, when the restaurant she chooses to visit is besieged by a local biker gang.
Series: Learning to Fight [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1684456





	A Graceful Annoyance

Guangzhou, China.

A bustling city, nestled on the Pearl River. For a port city with over 15 million people, a recent report showed that, when compared to other cities of similar size across the world, Guangzhou had one of the lowest crime rates in the world. The citizens of the city, more often than not, felt safe within city limits.

Unless, of course, one happened to hear the deafening roar of motorcycle engines.

On an otherwise quiet street, an American girl found herself sitting in a small restaurant. A server at the restaurant brought her the food she’d ordered, and she looked down at it with interest.

“Hm,” Rebecca Po said to herself, inspecting the ingredients she could see,”this looks surprisingly good. I can only hope.”

She had only begun to reach for the spoon, ready to dig into her soup, when the loud sounds of engines filled the air. Several of the other customers began to panic, knowing what those sounds meant. Rebecca, however, ignored the commotion. All that mattered to her in that moment was the meal she had ordered.

As far as she was concerned, nothing would stop her from eating.

She had just dipped the head of her spoon into the broth when the front door flew open, crashing into the wall with a loud slam. A group of men, ranging from fit to heavily muscular in build, poured into the room, hooting and hollering as they spread out between the tables. The patrons within moved to get as far away from the bikers as they could, some of whom were upending tables or smashing dinnerware. Luckily for Rebecca, most of the action happened away from her table, giving her the chance to work on her meal in relative peace. The noise and movement stopped a few seconds after it started. The other customers watched in fear as one more person entered the restaurant.

A woman confidently strode into the room. Much like the rest of her crew, she wore a leather jacket over her burgundy shirt. The chains on her hip bounced off of her ripped black jeans, and her heavy boots stomped loudly with each step. Only the patrons on her right side would’ve been able to describe how piercing her blue eye was, even when she wasn’t looking directly at you. Anyone on her left would only be able to talk about the white cloth eyepatch that covered that side. Everyone would make mention of the heavily dented baseball bat that she cradled on her shoulders.

She waltzed up to the counter, gazing at the server that ended up behind it.

“Hey there,” she said, her voice every bit as confident as her walk made her look, “go get Qin. Tell him he’s late with his protection payment, and I’m here to collect.”

The poor young girl shook her head, tears running down her face.”

“And hey, relax. I’m not gonna hurt you. Neither are my boys, “ she turned to the men around the room, “right?”

A round of chuckles answered her. She looked back to the server.

“Go.”

And with that, the girl ran off, sobbing along the way. Li Na Long, leader of the Raging Dragons, spun on her heel to face the rest of the room.

“I promised her that none of us would hurt her. I’m gonna make the same promise to the rest of you, but only if you cooperate. See, she won’t get hurt because she works here. Can’t collect payment from a business if there’s nobody there to work and get it making money.

“You all, on the other hand, aren’t so lucky. My boys are gonna start going around the room, paying a visit to all of you. All you gotta do to stay safe is hand over anything of value that you’ve got. Cash, cards, wallets, phones. Hell, if you’ve got loose change, we’ll take it too. Just hand it over, and you’ll be fine.

“And boys?” The men in the room all eyed her, each of them with different levels of enthusiasm, “If they try to run? If they try to fight back, scream for help, call the cops, or anything that isn’t them making us richer? Make their faces look like their asses, and their asses like their faces.”

And with that, the group of bikers, around four or five, started going about the room. Some of them drew bags from their pockets, while others were just collecting valuables however they could. Grumbles and whimpers could be heard from the other customers in the room, while Rebecca continued to enjoy her lunch. It wasn’t long until one of the ones carrying a bag came up to her.

“Alright, girlie,” he said, holding the open bag in one hand and a knife in the other, “hand over the goods.”

As her men continued the shakedown, Li Na leaned over the counter. She rested her head in one hand, a bored look on her face.

“What’s taking them so long? Pretty sure Qin works today.”

At that moment, a huge mass flew by her and buried itself partway through the wall. Li Na barely had time to register that anything had happened before she saw what it was that whizzed by. The thug that had tried to hold Rebecca up was embedded into the wall, his eyes wide in shock. Li Na stared at him, though she wondered if he could even see anything himself. She could barely hear him giving the slightest of pained groans.

“...the fuck was that?”

The sound of a chair scooting back pulled her attention back to the dining room. She watched as a young girl calmly stood from her table, a frustrated look on her face.

“Anyone else want to try that with me?”

Li Na stared at her for a moment, then looked back at her broken man. She went back and forth for a few seconds before a grin stretched across her lips. Rebecca took a couple of steps forward, putting space between her and her table.

“Look,” she said, glaring at Li Na, though addressing the room, “you all have a choice to make. You can either leave here, or you can deal with me. It doesn’t matter to me what you weaklings choose to do.”

At that, Li Na began to laugh.

“Lookie what we got here, boys. The little girl wants to play anime hero. Listen here, girlie, I don’t know who you think you are, but you’re in Raging Dragons territory. That means, around here,  _ I _ call the shots around here. That means, if I wanted to, I could have you dragged down the highway behind a newbie’s ride. So do yourself a favor: sit your ass down, shut up, and wait for another of my guys to come around. Unless, of course, you really want us to break you off a piece.”

Rebecca sighed, cracking her neck as she did.

“I came all this way to get away from someone in my life that’s already very loud. I came here for a peaceful meal, and now I have to deal with more loud people? I just can’t catch a damn break.

“And, really? ‘Raging Dragons’? You call your group of cowards ‘Raging Dragons’, and you have the nerve to accuse me of being an anime character?”

Li Na scoffed. “Well, yeah. You’re the one who thinks one little girl can take on a bunch of armed guys. Tell ya what, why don’t you go ahead and prove how hot shit you are?”

She then turned to the remaining men in the dining room, still grinning.

“Boys? Break her.”

The three bikers still standing immediately charged her, with the youngest letting off cries of excitement while the other two simply ran in. Rebecca took a brief moment to see the directions the men were coming from.

_ All three from the front. Pathetic. _

She barely moved from her position as the bikers approached. Once they were in close enough, she delivered lightning-fast punches to each of them. One to the midsection for each was more than enough. Two of the three immediately went down, gagging and coughing for air. She put a little more force in the third punch, sending her target flying across the restaurant. He landed on a table next to Li Na, who watched as he groaned and writhed in pain. Her grin faded as she approached her fallen member. She then struck, bashing him in the face with a vicious backfist and knocking him out instantly.

Rebecca shook the hand she struck with. “Why is it always the loudest ones that have to bother me?”

Li Na laughed, pointing her bat at Rebecca. “So, little girl’s got some fighting spirit. What, you watch a few kung fu movies when you were a kid and decide you wanted to play hero? Got some news for ya, kid. Real world don’t work that way. Sure, you handled these guys pretty easily, but they’re ass at fighting anyway. How ‘bout you take on someone who knows what she’s doing? See how long you last?”

Rebecca rolled her eyes, cracking her neck again.

“Okay, look. One: you talk too much. Two: If you’re going to bring up kung fu movies, don’t go around with a gang that makes you look like a generic bad guy from a kung fu movie. And three: I just want to relax. I want to enjoy my vacation, so I’ll make this quick.”

Li Na grinned savagely. “Really? That’s what you got? Act tough and talk shit about my crew? How ‘bout I show you just how badass you really are!”

With that, she charged in at Rebecca, rearing her bat back. Once she was close enough, she swung the bat as hard as she could, intending to turn the younger girl’s head into a homerun. Rebecca saw the swing coming, however, and quickly stepped back to avoid the blow. Li Na chased after her with another swing. Rebecca lashed out with a quick strike, using her foot to deflect the impact. Li Na immediately fired off a wild punch with her free hand. Rebecca caught the punch, catching the biker off-guard. With little effort, she used the captured arm to heave Li Na across the room.

Li Na cried out in shock as she flew through the air, landing heavily on a table several feet from where she started. Her momentum carried her over the edge, and the table was only just large enough for her to recover, slide off the table, and smoothly land on her feet. She turned to Rebecca, whistling as she eyed the young girl over.

“Not bad, kid,” she said, a smirk on her face, “You might have somethin’ goin’ for ya after all. Now then, let’s see how you handle this!”

She then kicked a nearby chair, popping it straight up into the air. She then crouched down low, swinging a leg up and kicking the chair as hard as she could. The attack sent the seat flying directly at Rebecca, who destroyed it with a palm strike the instant it was close enough.

“Shit,” Li Na cursed to herself. She tried it again, this time sending two chairs, one after the other, in hopes of throwing the younger fighter off. Her attempt failed, however, as the young American also destroyed them, one with a knife-hand strike and the other with a kick.

Rebecca sighed, slowly bringing her kicking leg back down. “You’re not much of a fighter, are you?”

Li Na scoffed. “Nah, that ain’t it. I’m just screwin’ around right now.”

“Really, now?” Rebecca asked, raising an eyebrow in disbelief. She started walking toward the biker, arms crossed in front of her. “If that’s the case, then why don’t you take your boys and leave. I have no interest in this fight if you’re not going to take this seriously.”

Li Na grinned, moving toward Rebecca and swinging her bat idly at her side. “Nah, I’m havin’ too much fun here. Besides, you’re the one that asked for this fight, girlie. Wassa matter, you scared I’ll kick that scrawny ass of yours all over the city?”

“Hardly,” Rebecca scoffed, “besides, if anything, you and your men were the ones that instigated this mess. One of your goons harassed me, so I handled the offense accordingly. God, you sound a lot like  _ her… _ ”

“Oh yeah,” Li Na asked, “like who? Got a girlfriend back home? Well, if you wanted to avoid trouble and get back just fine, you should’ve just acted like a good little girl and paid up.”

Li Na’s grin grew. “Too late for that now, though. Now, I gotta--” With that, she leaped forward, driving a knee into the dark-haired woman’s chin. The attack worked like a charm, catching Rebecca by surprise and driving her back a few steps. Li Na landed on one leg, keeping her kicking leg lifted in the air. She smiled evilly, shaking her upheld foot in a taunting manner.

“Oh look,” she said, “Baby girl’s not invincible, after all!”

Rebecca regained her footing quickly, glaring at the gang leader as though she hadn’t been touched at all. “Amusing. If you must know, I don’t have a girlfriend. Well, actually, yes I do. But the person I’m talking about is not her. She’s more of a childhood rival. That being said--”

Rebecca lashed out with a hard kick to Li Na’s chest. The force of the kick sent the biker back several feet and into a brief coughing fit. When she finished, she looked at the younger woman with a mix of anger and excitement.

“You really want this, don’t ya? Alright then, fine by me!”

Rebecca took up a fighting stance, ready to see what her new opponent had for her. Li Na, rather than taking one of her own, ran forward. She closed the distance between the two combatants before performing an action Rebecca hadn’t predicted: she leaped into the air, bringing both legs around in what looked like a rolling double-footed stomp. The attack, though unique, was slow enough for Rebecca to react, allowing her to sidestep the kick and retaliate with a back kick of her own to Li Na’s head. The biker landed, wincing slightly at the impact with the ground, before ducking down below Rebecca’s strike. She used her low position to try for a sweep, only for Rebecca to recover quickly and launch herself into a backflip. Once space had been created between the two again, Li Na spun herself around, ending up back on her feet.

Rebecca scowled at the older woman. “Your movements are strange. I don’t think I’ve seen anything like it before. Are you dancing?”

Li Na hefted her bat onto her shoulders.

“Heh,” she chuckled, “now I get it. You’re just a generic martial artist, ain’t cha? Never seen my style before, huh? Can’t say I’m too shocked. Capoeira isn’t the most common martial art in the world.”

“’Capoeira’?” Rebecca repeated, “that’s supposed to be a fighting style? Doesn’t seem very effective if you ask me.”

“Wow, you really are uneducated, huh? Tell ya what, I’ll give you the short version: Capoeira was a fighting style developed by slaves. It was made to look like a dance so that the slave owners wouldn’t know that they were training themselves to fight,” At this, Li Na pointed her bat at Rebecca.

“Now then, you wanna throw down, or are you ready to pay up and apologize to me and my crew for your disrespect? I’m thinkin’, all your cash and bowing in front of me five times oughta be good enough.”

“God,” Rebecca spat under her breath, “do you ever just shut up?”

With that, she leaped into the air, bringing a foot high above her head in preparation for an axe kick. If Li Na heard her, she didn’t show it, as the biker brought her bat back behind her head, as if to knock a fastball out of the park. Realizing there was little she could do, Rebecca changed her body positioning as much as she could in midair. Li Na never noticed the adjustments that were made, her lone visible eye staring madly at the younger fighter. She swung her bat as hard as she could. Rebecca managed to get both feet onto the bat, but there was more force behind the swing than she realized. The attack still manages to launch her across the restaurant, crashing into a yet-untouched table.

“Ha!” Li Na cried out excitedly, “Not so tough now, are ya?”

Rebecca didn’t answer, instead opting to get to her feet. She examined herself for any damage before noticing a tear on her jacket. She scoffed at the damage before taking it off and tossing it to the side.

“I wouldn’t be too mad about that,” Li Na said, “When I’m done with you, the jacket’ll be the least expensive thing you’ll have to replace.”

Rebecca chose not to respond, instead falling back into her stance. Li Na scoffed, unsure if her talk was still getting to the younger woman. She darted in, turning on a heel and leaping into the air for a spinning kick aimed at the dark-haired woman’s head. Rebecca blocked the blow, quickly grabbing at the extended leg and using the older woman’s momentum to slam her hard into the ground. Li Na groaned from the impact. Rebecca chose to press her advantage, and delivered a hard punch to her abdomen. The strike forced a bit of saliva out of Li Na, though it also knocked whatever sense she had lost back into her. She quickly wrapped her legs around the young fighter’s outstretched arm, attempting to lock in what was essentially a sloppy flying armbar.

Rebecca strained against the hold. “Is this supposed to be Capoeira too?”

“No, but breaking your arm is gonna be worth it!”

Unfortunately for Li Na, she was unfamiliar with using submission holds, giving Rebecca the room she needed to turn the hold around. She threw her body over the older woman’s, smoothly reversing the armbar and transitioning the hold into an expertly executed triangle choke. Li Na struggled to breathe, the pressure of Rebecca’s legs crushing her throat cutting off the flow of blood to her brain.

Rebecca allows herself a small smile, watching the older fighter fading from consciousness.

“What a shame. If you knew how to use a hold properly, you could have been a real threat.”

Li Na couldn’t respond, flailing her arms about. Rebecca tightened the hold, trying to end the fight faster.

“Just go to sleep. Let this happen.”

The biker couldn’t register the younger woman’s words, more focused on trying to stay awake. Running off of instinct, she managed to get her feet planted under her. She pushed off with her legs, summoning up all of her strength to lift Rebecca off the ground. Rebecca’s eyes widened in shock.

_ How is she this strong? She should’ve faded out by now! _

Li Na managed to get Rebecca into the air, holding her in the air above her head. Rebecca struggled to pull the biker back down to the ground, to no effect. Li Na held her for a few seconds before bringing the younger fighter down.  _ Hard.  _ The slam forced Rebecca to release her hold, the slam making her feel as though she’d been flattened. Li Na, now freed, scrambled away. Both women coughed violently, trying to get air back into their lungs. The two writhed on the ground for a few moments, trying to recover from the damage. Before long, the two began to move more normally again, getting to their feet.

Rebecca stood first, silently taking up her stance once again. Li Na, once up, glared with one singular eye at the other fighter.

“That’s it, you little bitch,” she said, still panting for breath, “I’m done.  _ You’re _ done. I actually  _ was _ gonna forgive you and let you walk away if you did what you were told. No, not any more. Now, I’m gonna kill you. I’m gonna kill you, and I’m gonna enjoy strangling the life out of you.”

With those words, Rebecca’s eyes narrowed. She took a deep breath, settling the nerves still firing from the slam.

“Then try it, bitch.”

With a shout, Li Na rushed in, bringing a leg up for a high roundhouse kick when she’d gotten close enough. Rebecca raised her arm, blocking the attack and responding with a quick punch to the face. Li Na managed to bring her own guard up to deflect the attack, bringing her kicking leg back enough to fire another at Rebecca’s midsection. The younger fighter sidestepped the attack, darting in and delivering a devastating elbow smash to the biker’s own abdomen. Li Na cried out in pain, a small bit of spittle flying from her mouth. On instinct, she reached out, grabbing Rebecca’s head and smashing her in the face. The younger fighter cried out before delivering a headbutt of her own in return.

The slam caused Li Na to stumble back. In a fit of desperation, Li Na lashed out, throwing a wild punch with no particular target. Rebecca saw the strike coming from a mile away, however, and deflected the attack with ease, firing a high kick to Li Na’s chin in response. The power behind the kick sent the Chinese warrior flying and crashing into a table. Rebecca watched the older woman soar through the air, her leg held in the air and a small smile forming on her lips.

Li Na, with a groan of pain, rolled off the table. She slowly got up, wiping away at the trails of blood running from her lips and nose. She looked over to the younger fighter, seeing her with her leg still in the air. The non-verbal taunt dug into Li Na’s nerves. She charged in on Rebecca, wrapping her arms around the younger woman’s waist once she closed in. Rebecca planted her feet, bracing against the tackle attempt and holding the biker in place.

“Heh,” Li Na said, smiling madly, “gotcha bitch.”

With that, Li Na swung a leg back behind her, hard. The American warrior was caught off-guard by the older woman’s surprising flexibility, as the heel of Li Na’s boot crashed into her forehead in a scorpion kick. The strike threw Rebecca off-balance, and as the kick caused her to stumble, she slipped on a bit of food and fell to the ground. Li Na, seeing her chance to strike, quickly brought her leg back down and, not missing a beat, launched herself into another Armada Dupla. To her credit, Rebecca saw the aerial attack coming, rolling out of the way.

Unfortunately for Li Na, the evasive maneuver put her in a terrible position, one where she could do nothing to adjust for Rebecca’s response. The end result was the older woman slamming into the ground with both feet. The impact rocked the biker, causing her legs to tremble. She stumbled for a moment, trying to regain her balance.

“Shit,” she groaned, a tingling feeling running up and down her legs, “why do I even fight like this in these goddamn boots?”

Rebecca raised an eye at that, taking a quick look down and noticing the raised heels on them. She then looked back up to her opponent’s face.

“Not exactly fit for combat, are they?” She asked. She then smirked, finding an opportunity to make things a little more comfortable for the two martial artists.

“How about a little change of pace?” She then quickly kicked off her shoes, settling into a more comfortable stance.

Li Na watched with a puzzled look on her face. “Ya mean, ya wanna go barefoot here?” She then looked around the room, seeing the destruction the two had caused to this point. She then smiled again. “I like it!”

With that, she took a minute to remove her own boots, leaving her barefoot as well. As she tossed her boots to one side, she noticed something that she hadn’t noticed before; something that she, under most other circumstances, would never have passed by her so easily.

She’d lost her baseball bat at some point, and it now lay on the ground near where her boots had landed.

“Huh,” she said, musing over the sight, “how’d that get there?”

Rebecca followed Li Na’s eyes, seeing the bat lying on the ground. She couldn’t help but roll her eyes.

“Do you seriously have to rely on that?”

Li Na looked over at the younger fighter, a puzzled look on her face. “Wha? ‘Rely’? Nah. It’s actually pretty awkward to use with Capoeira. But that’s what makes fightin’ more fun fer me. That, and tha fact that I’ve had that thing fer almost twenny years.”

Rebecca couldn’t help but relax from her stance upon hearing that, bringing a hand up to her face.

“Seriously? Instead of relying on your skill as a martial artist, you would rather use a weapon against me?”

Li Na grinned. “Never said I can’t do both. Wassa matta? You afraid yer ribs won’ stand up to my bat?” As she taunted Rebecca, the older woman began to move. She stepped to one side, then the other. She moved back and forth, finding a rhythm in her steps. Rebecca watched as Li Na fell into her Ginga, Capoeira’s dance-like base stance. The younger woman fell into her own stance.

“Your bat will do you no good once you’ve lost this fight.”

The elder fighter’s grin grew.

“Come on then. Beat me if ya can.  _ But survive if I let ya. _ ”

Rebecca scowled at that. She quickly spun on one foot, rearing back and firing the other in a fierce back kick. Li Na, having stepped aside at the perfect time, spun her body low, using the momentum of her turn to return a spinning kick of her own. Rebecca barely reacted to the odd move in time, bringing her arms up to defend against the attack. The strength of the strike, however, caused Rebecca to slide back several feet, wincing at the pain in her arms.

The older fighter used the momentum of her kick to spring forward, firing a palm strike toward the American fighter’s jaw. The attack connected squarely, the impact hard enough to send Rebecca falling to her backside. The Chinese woman took hold of one of the fallen warrior’s ankles, ready to do more damage to her opponent. Rebecca, however, kicked the older fighter’s hands away, then followed with another kick to Li Na’s abdomen. The defensive maneuver caused Li Na to stumble backwards in pain, giving Rebecca the chance to flip to her feet, close in and deliver a knee strike to the gang leader’s gut.

The knee forced the air out of Li Na’s lungs, though the elder fighter managed to keep her wits about her. She swung wildly with a punch, catching the younger fighter in her own stomach. While the blow did land, it didn’t do nearly the amount of damage Li Na had wanted, which allowed Rebecca to strike with another knee. The second knee strike hit harder than the one before, causing Li Na to double over in pain. As she bent over, an idea came to Li Na, and she latched onto Rebecca’s planted leg.

“What?” Rebecca asked, confused. The older woman gave no answer, instead simply striking with a punch to the side of Rebecca’s knee. The move caused her to cry out in pain and release Li Na from her grip.

Li Na took a moment to recover, coughing hard as she did. While she was still bent over, she noticed something of interest on the ground. With one last cough, she smirked, quickly reaching down for it.

“Here, bitch! Catch!”

With a flick of her wrist, Li Na snapped a piece of broken plate flying at the young warrior’s face. Rebecca had barely managed to recover from the blow to her knee in time to see the projectile hurtling toward her. She dodged it by the barest of margins, a sharp corner of the shard managing to catch enough of her cheek to slice a thin line into it.

Rebecca winced, feeling the sting of the cut on her face. “Damn,” she muttered, “Fighting dirty now, are you?”

Li Na couldn’t help but chuckle at that. “I run a biker’s club. Playin’ fair ain’t exactly my style.”

In an act of defiance, Rebecca ran a thumb across her cheek, wiping away at the thin line of blood running down from the cut. She then brought the blood-stained thumb to her mouth, taking a quick taste of her own blood. The act caused Li Na to grin.

“Now we’re talkin’! Let’s get to tha good shit!”

She rushed forward, forcing Rebecca to take her guard. When she had gotten close enough, Li Na dove forward, past the younger woman. Rebecca followed her with a confused look on her face, before her eyes locked onto the Chinese fighter’s goal:

Her baseball bat.

“Oh no you don’t!” Rebecca shouted, quickly throwing an axe kick. The attack stopped Li Na exactly where she was, causing the older woman to choke out a gasp of pain as she was spiked into the ground. Instinctively, she kicked at the American martial artist’s ankles, catching one and causing Rebecca to fall to one knee. Knowing she needed to keep Li Na away from her weapon, Rebecca grabbed at Li Na’s legs and began to drag her away. Li Na scrambled around, trying to get hold of anything she could use to help her. She managed to grab hold of something and, in an act of desperation, threw it at the American’s head.

“Gah!” Rebecca cried out as a plastic shaker bounced off of her face, spraying its peppery payload all over her. The momentary distraction allowed Li Na to lash out with a kick of her free leg, her foot slamming hard into Rebecca’s midsection. The strike caused Rebecca to reel back several steps, coughing as she did. The separation gave Li Na enough time to turn around and lunge for her bat. As soon as she grabbed it, she spun around, flinging the weapon at her opponent. Rebecca, despite the pepper to the face, recovered in time to see the sporting equipment flying at her. She caught the weapon with little effort, throwing it far enough away from the dueling martial artists to render it useless for the remainder of the battle.

Li Na watched as her bat sailed off, her face falling into a mixed expression of sadness and disappointment. “Well fuck,” she said, “there goes that plan.”

Rebecca wrinkled her nose for a second before letting out a sneeze. “Now we— _ achoo— _ settle this with— _ achoo _ \--our fists.”

Li Na turned back to the other woman, rushing in as fast as she could. Once she was within what she felt was a safe distance, she threw herself forward, bringing her legs up and ending in a handstand. She spread her legs as wide as she could, and began to spin herself in place. It took her a moment to get up to speed, turning her body into a helicopter of pain. She inched forward as she spun, closing what distance was left between the two women.

Rebecca watched the  _ helicoptero _ , bringing her arms up to defend herself. She blocked several kicks, losing patience with each foot that wore away at her guard. Eventually, she managed to see the timing of the attack, reaching out and grabbing a leg to stop the attack. She then quickly swung a leg forward, striking the upside down warrior in her chest. Li Na grunted in pain, thought she managed to capture her captor’s own kicking leg before it could be retracted.

“What the--?!” Rebecca said. Li Na grinned madly.

“Gotcha, bitch!”

With that, she grasped Rebecca’s foot, wrenching her toes back as hard as she possibly could. Rebecca cried out in pain, though she managed to keep hold of the Capoeirista’s leg. She answered Li Na’s hold with her own, viciously twisting her opponent’s captive ankle. Li Na yelled out in response, letting up on the pressure for a brief moment before reapplying it. The two warriors stand in the middle of the torn-up restaurant dining room, each trying to get the other to submit before causing any permanent damage. Eventually however, one relents.

Between the pain from being struck in her torso so many times, and that of the hold being applied to her, Li Na feels her body give her little choice but to let go, freeing Rebecca’s captive foot and allowing the young fighter to regain proper footing.

Rebecca, realizing what just happened, couldn’t help but smirk. “Now then, give up.”

“Screw off!”

Li Na then planted her hands on the ground, pushing off the ground in an attempt to force her captor off-balance. Rebecca, however, planted her feet and twisted the Chinese biker’s ankle again.

“You’re not getting away.”

Li Na cried out again. She thrashed for a moment, her body acting on pure instinct to try and relieve the pressure. Out of pure desperation, an idea crops up in the older fighter’s head: she pushed her upper body as far forward as she could, lashing out with a hard punch to a particular part of the American’s anatomy. The targeted attack worked its magic, causing Rebecca to cry out in agony and drop the older fighter. Li Na landed hard on her head, and when the rest of her body came down, she kicked her feet like a child while clutching the back of her head. The younger fighter limped away, clutching at herself and collapsing to the ground. The fighters spent several minutes on the ground, each of them taking the time they needed to recover from their respective injuries. Li Na blinked her dizziness away, while Rebecca took deep breaths to push past her own pain. They began to stir at nearly the same time, both of them pushing themselves to their feet.

Li Na was the first to get up, standing firmly on one foot and gingerly on the other. She wiped away a line of blood trailing from her lips, breathing heavily as she did. She watched as Rebecca got back to her own vertical base, panting as hard as she was.

“So,” the older woman said, her eye glaring at the younger fighter, “ya ready ta die now?”

Rebecca returned Li Na’s sharp gaze with one of her own. “I will not lose to the likes of you.”

Li Na ran forward as quickly as she could, rearing a fist back with a shout. Rebecca did the same, her own shout matching volume with the Chinese warrior. The two met in the middle, each of them firing their fists into their opposite’s cheek. Li Na dug in as hard as she could, but only having one solid foot to stand on severely limited the strength she could put into the attack, allowing Rebecca to easily overpower her. The power behind the American’s punch sent Li Na flying into the farthest wall. Li Na slammed into the wall, hitting hard enough to rattle her brain. The impact took whatever fight was left in the fighter out of her immediately, and she fell limply to the ground, her eye rolling back in her head.

Rebecca watched intently as the Capoeirista dropped from the wall, her knuckles burning and her lungs heaving for air. When she was sure her opponent wasn’t going anywhere, she allowed herself to relax. Her muscles burned, her bones ached, and her nerves shook like crazy, but at the end, she stood victorious. She stood up straight from her fighting stance, shaking her head.

“That took far longer than it should have,” With that, she turned her head, taking in the amount of damage the two fighters did to the restaurant. “Yikes. We ruined this place.” Her eyes continued to scan the area, mentally tallying the damages around her when they found a particular sight.

A man, cowered down and shaking in fear, behind the main counter. It didn’t take Rebecca long to figure out who he was. She slowly approached him, her pain-wracked body not wanting to move too quickly lest she aggravate an injury she didn’t know she had. She picked up her shoes as she walked past them. When she was close enough to the man, she offered him a deep bow.

“I apologize for what’s happened here today,” she said to Qin, “but you should call the police before these neanderthals wake up.”

With that, she spun on her heel, making her way toward the front door. Qin didn’t respond at first, his brain still trying to take in what he’d seen since he walked in. Just as the bell above the door rang, his brain fired, forcing him to say the only thing he could think of:

“Hey! You gotta pay for your food!”

Rebecca stopped in the doorway, slowly looking back at the man. Qin’s fear returned in full force, expecting the American to snap at him, or worse. He wasn’t expecting the nervous gaze she gave him instead of malicious intent.

“Can you, uh, put it on my tab? I’ll pay for it later.”

It was then that what Qin said clicked in his brain. He looked at the destruction around him for the first real time, realizing the larger issue at hand.

“Yeah…” he said, his voice weakening as he spoke, “I guess.”

“Thank you, and again, I’m sorry.” With that, she slipped her shoes on and began making her way down the street. She never noticed the group of bikers she’d walked past, though they made no effort to bother her. They watched as she walked slowly, rushing into the restaurant as soon as they felt she was at a minimum safe distance. The American walked for a couple of blocks before she felt a vibration in her pocket. Pulling her phone out of her pocket, she answered the call without checking first.

“Hello?”

_ “You asshole!”  _ A voice screamed at the other end of the line, forcing Rebecca to jerk her head away.  _ “You went to China and didn’t even tell me?! What, you think you were gonna find some old martial arts master and train under them? Thought you could get stronger than me without me knowing, the way you did with that game we played a few weeks ago?! Lemme tell you something, that’s not happening! I’m just gonna start training harder than ever now, and when you get back, I’m--” _

“Tanya,” Rebecca said, exhaustion filling her voice, “if I buy you a souvenir, will you shut up?”

_ “...it better be something cool.” _

“Deal,” With that, she hung up, slipping the phone from her pocket. “Now this vacation can  _ really _ begin.” She took another step, wincing in pain.

“... _ after _ I treat these wounds.”

* * *

Hours later, Li Na sat in her gang’s main garage, an angry scowl on her face. Her eye was locked onto the screen of one of her subordinates’ phones, the woman having recorded her boss’ fight from outside the restaurant. Bandages and tape covered her body, serving as a sign of her failure to her crew. As she watched the replay of the fight, her body seemed to ache in time with the action on screen.

“Boss,” another man at her side spoke up, “those favors you called in came through. We got a name for her.”

Li Na said nothing, a simple hand wave acting as her command. The man showed her the screen of his own phone, and LI Na’s glare sharpened as she read it.

“‘Rebecca Po’, eh?” She asked, committing the name to memory, “I gotcha. I’m gonna get you back fer this shit, Po. Just you wait. I’m comin’ fer yer ass.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you like what you’ve seen and want to keep up with the Internet’s Eternal Phenomenon, then be sure to follow me on social media! I’m on Twitter (@MysticDeadman), Instagram (@mystic_deadman), DeviantArt (MysticDeadman), Fanfiction (Mystic Deadman) and YouTube (Mystic Deadman)!


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